


How To Struggle

by ReedRGale



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 19:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4316184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReedRGale/pseuds/ReedRGale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People grow and change through their lives; that's life. It's no different for gems, as much as they try to ignore it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Struggle

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction is intended to be read after finishing the first season. While I draw from information from Season 2, I doubt anything will be revealed spoiler-wise past that point. Though implications might lead one to understand more about future events. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy. ;)

“...says that things are running smoothly,” Sapphire said, “should progress continue moving at the current speed, we should be done with this planet in the next few hundred years or so.”

Ruby sat silent. Both of them knew what that would mean. That is, for them. Good news for gems, sure. The planet was taking well to processing. But that also meant, well...

“Well,” Ruby finally said, diverting her thoughts from the matter. What did all that glorious work and stuff mean anyway? It wasn’t something that wasn’t done a million billion times before, anyway. “That’s still a ‘few hundred years’ or so, right? And you’re done running from place to place now, so…”

“...yeah,” Sapphire finished. It was a given at this point. Every spare moment the two had, they spent together. It was a good thing that Ruby was kept so busy because she couldn’t really explain the behavior and in their culture abnormality was always considered, well, bad.

Gems, after all, were made designed to do a particular task. Each had a certain predisposition. From their own abilities and weapons, not to mention personal inclinations, toward their duty and job. Most took pleasure in simply doing that job, following the grand direction from the Diamonds.

There was a role for everyone. From taskmasters to messengers, from leaders to grunts, from nobodies to somebodies, gems lives were more or less determined from their gem’s identity. A place for everyone, an important role in the grand design.

Sure, there had been oddities in the past. Irregular gems that showed interest in ideas that worked outside of the framework. But that was the thing. It was outside the framework. Oddities could not be classified. Oddities were to be ignored or extricated.

Together, the two of them were an oddity. Their behavior was irregular, irrational. Gems had little need for interpersonal interaction, and yet...

The two’s laughter could be heard throughout the forest as they pointed out the little things.

How Earth’s moon reflected beautifully on the lake, how the sand felt in their hands and how each little speck was important to making the beach. They talked about the night sky and how each star, though so far away that they were simply afterimages, they still managed to make a celestial carpet. They talked about how the wind felt on their skin. They talked about how much life there was to enjoy.

...well, to be honest, Sapphire developed most of the romantic imagery, though the more that Ruby listened, the more she found she agreed. The longer they spent together, the more she couldn’t help but notice all the beauty around them. To see as she saw. The Earth changed every time she spoke with Sapphire, changing from another planet to… their world.

She never wanted to leave. She wanted to see what Sapphire saw forever.

“Ah, and that one, that one is categorized as a clover,” she pointed out a patch of small three leafed sprouts and pink and white flowers.

“The flower or the… the other plants?”

“Both,” came a new voice. Ruby jumped back, startled. It was a few seconds before she noticed that Sapphire had turned into a small bird chirping in a tree nearby. Taking the hint, she followed suit morphing into a squirrel running up to join her, chattering all the way, angry that someone had interrupted this special time.

If they made contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial… well, it was never good. Mostly, the gem would be recorded in human history and legend. Then, they were chinked. The process mustn’t be disturbed and the less humans knew, the better.

“Oh, please don’t be worried!” Sapphire seemed to know the voice this time and she flittered to the ground before changing back to her normal form. It was Rose Quartz.

In the time that they had been together, Ruby and Sapphire were rarely seen together by anyone--no one asked what other gems did in their free time--but Rose had noticed them start talking once and even casually mentioned that they were ‘cute together.’ Even so, she’d followed them?

“I didn’t meant to interrupt anything, but do you mind if I joined you for a bit?”

A little, Ruby thought. Though she knew better than to blab her thoughts. “Not at all,” she said, instead. One did not simply refuse Rose Quartz. And besides, she hadn’t seemed perturbed or confused that the two of them were together and she’d proven herself at least a little trustworthy. After all, Ruby hadn’t been shattered yet..

“Thank you. I didn’t mean to interrupt but... I just adore clovers.” She beckoned back to the patch. “Each one has three leaves, though sometimes when one of these little ones gets hurt or trampled, they grow into something new and unique.” She gently nudged individual clovers aside until she finally came upon one she had been talking about. Sure enough, there was an odd clover with four leaves.

Sapphire was looking at it with interest and, because of that, Ruby looked too. “Why does it become different?” Sapphire asked.

“Well,” Rose paused, as if choosing words carefully, “this little one went through changes early on. It got stepped on, likely.” Ruby didn’t see the point to this. These were pointless details. And yet, she couldn’t explain why she was hanging on every word. “And because of that, it had to grow and change and, well, it became different, but greater than its original whole. Their misfortune was actually good luck, don’t you think!”

Rose looked at the two of them and smiled. Sapphire seemed to understand something that Ruby didn’t and that was frustrating.

She’d have to ask her later.

The three of them walked a little longer in the forest but the mood had changed. Ruby felt awkward because Sapphire and Rose now dominated the conversation. It was always weird talking with other gems. They never seemed to listen. People just sort of talked down to Ruby. Like she was just some nobody.

Which she supposed she was.

So it was odd when Rose asked her, “are you okay, Ruby?”

“Huh? Uh, sure.”

“Oh, okay. You just looked a little... gone.”

“Yeah well. Yeah. I just don’t talk much is all.”

“You were talking quite a bit with Sapphire just a little while ago.” How long was she following them? Actually, how had they not noticed her? She’s a seven foot tall pink giant for diamond’s sake!

“I, well, I just…” She didn’t want to say she felt trampled on when she talked to authority. She didn’t want to say she felt trampled on when Rose interjected on her time with Sapphire. “I just don’t want to talk.”

“Well, okay. I just thought you might be interested in what I was going to say next and if you feel like talking then, I want to listen.” Through all this, Sapphire had been staring at Ruby inquisitively.

Sometimes, Sapphire really didn’t get it, seeing as she talked all day.

“‘Kay,” Ruby simply replied.

“As I was saying, the longer we do this… injecting into the Earth… the less sure I feel that we should. I know that it is necessary for the furthering of our race but seeing this world and its people, I just can’t help but feel that what we’re doing is, well, wrong.” What? How could a high ranking gem like Rose think that way? It was… abnormal.

But seriously, who even thinks about these things? This was what had to be done to make more gems. It was an endless process from one place to another, one planet, then another. It was necessary so how could that be wrong?

And why couldn’t Ruby find the words to say that?

Instead, Sapphire said, “but this is the only way. This is how things have always been done, this is how we reproduce. How then can what we do be, as you say, wrong?”

“I’ve been watching the humans,” wait what, “and I think that they aren’t so--”

“You’ve been watching the humans!?” Ruby interjected.

“Yes. I think you’ll find that after some time--”

“We’re strictly not supposed to interact with other intelligent beings!”

“Well, technically as long as I’m not seen--”

“Fine it’s strongly implied we’re not supposed to interact with other humans and I think that means watching them!” Ruby was a little peeved about Rose’s voyeurism and this seemed like a great way to get back.

“And it is strongly implied that we’re not supposed to interact with other gems.” She let that hang in the air a bit. Ouch.

After a long pause, she said, “not everything that the Diamonds think is right. Not everything the majority thinks is true. Sometimes, you just have to trust yourself to know the correct thing.” Rose smiled warmly at the pair, as if she hadn’t just served Ruby’s quip right back at her. “I think you understand that yourselves,” she continued. Ruby and Sapphire exchanged glances.

“All I mean to say is that I feel like these humans deserve to blossom into something of their own. Maybe we could move onto another planet. Or maybe even lead the humans? Check back in a few thousand years and see what the Earth has become! Doesn’t that seem fascinating!” She was smiling the broadest grin and Ruby could swear she saw stars in Rose’s eyes. When she saw those, well, she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

It was ludicrous. Here was Rose Quartz speaking complete heresy. And all she could think was:

“Why are you telling us this?”

Wait.

Oh clod, did she say that out loud? Sapphire’s look said she did. And it was exactly how she’d imagined it, with all the ‘why do you keep wasting my time with this idealistic nonsense’ attached.

“Because I know that you will understand.” Rose looked Ruby in the eyes as she said it:  she was talking to her. Not Sapphire. To her. But she didn’t. What was there to understand?

It was then that they heard a twang followed by a thump. Almost on instinct, Rose and Sapphire transformed, a bush and a bluebird respectively. Ruby was a little slow on the uptake, but she changed into a squirrel just as a hunter came creeping into the clearing to pick up a pheasant that had protruding from it a crude arrow.

Once he had left, Rose transformed back into her humanoid form, then beckoned the other two to follow her. Tentatively at first, the bluebird Sapphire flittered after her and since she was going, Ruby decided to tag along.

Why were they going along with Rose? This was wrong. Mingling with other intelligent species only led to trouble. Nothing good came of it. And still, they followed.

After about thirty minutes of shadowing the man, they eventually came to a small abode, a cave though not a natural formation. The hunter, carrying the dead bird, had returned to a few other humans. One, a female, greeted him with a hug. Two others, smaller than him, ran up to him expectantly.

“They need to eat to survive,” Rose explained, enthralled. “They can’t subsist from stored energy alone, their bodies aren’t made for it. The man brings the food for his family, though, because the smaller ones can’t provide for themselves. I’ve sometimes seen him take them with him, though, to teach…”

Why did she care so much? These hairless apes were of little consequence, just another creature working to survive on their planet. They were doing what they had to to keep their race going so why was what the Gems were doing so wrong? Working within the rules laid out by the society was only natural. Right?

Ruby kept toying with these ideas but no answer came to her. In fact, why was she worrying about this so much?

“So...” Sapphire’s clear voice broke through Ruby’s muddled thoughts. “So,” She restated, “why do you continue to watch them?”

“Well, I…” Rose started, but she paused. After a little bit, she continued, “I think that since they are fighting so hard to survive that they deserve that chance. Why should we condemn them and their planet when they work continuously to live on. It’s just not fair.”

“But…” Sapphire began, choosing her words accurately, though quickly, “does morality apply to such simple creatures as these?”

“I’m not sure,” Rose said, honestly. “But I know when what I have to do feels wrong. And... I trust that feeling.” She started to walk away from the human abode. It was the safer choice and Ruby tacitly approved.

“Think of it like this,” she continued, “that feeling when you summon your weapon. Not all gems need their weapon, but when we feel a certain way, it comes to us. How do you feel when your weapon comes to you?”

“Angry…” Ruby mumbled as Sapphire simply said, “Sad.”

“It’s like that. I just have a need to protect and then, mine comes to me,” Rose said, smiling. “And when I see them, I feel that glow inside.”

 

*        *        *        *        *

 

“Where did you get these! I thought they stopped making them!?” Steven exclaimed, a Cookie Cat in hand and grin on face. After cleaning up the mess the centipedeles had made, it seemed only natural that the first thing Steven really noticed was ice cream.

She’d seen him coming home in her visions depressed over it. So, as she did with many futures that brought him pain, she’d averted it.

“Well, we heard that too, and since they’re your favorite--” Pearl began, sing-song.

“We went out and stole a bunch!” Amethyst finished, all-energy.

“Ugh, I went back and paid for them,” Pearl retorted.

“The whole thing was my idea,” Garnet noted. Credit where credit due.

“It was everyone’s idea,” Amethyst threw out quickly.

“Not really.” Credit where credit due.

“All that matters is that Steven is happy,” Pearl mused, self-satisfied. That was when Steven started Stevening. That is to say, he started rapping the theme-tune of the Cookie Cats they’d just saved. Garnet couldn’t help but grin and applaud; that boy was charming in his own obnoxious way.

After the gems had lauded his efforts, Steven exclaimed, “I can’t believe you did this! I’m gonna save these forever.” Pausing to reconsider, he added, “right after I eat this one.”

It was then that something odd happened. The Rose Quartz gem began to glow and Rose’s shield appeared. When we feel a certain way, it comes to us.

What could Steven possibly be feeling that would merit the shield?

It came into being just as Garnet remembered, a shining memoir of protection and love… which then proceeded to bounce haphazardly around the room like a magical frisbee.


End file.
